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Average euro zone inflation was a provisional 0.7% in October, much weaker than the ECB's official target of "close to but below 2%". It is not just the low level of inflation that has been a concern for the Bank, but the rapid decline in recent months: between July and October the rate fell by 0.9 percentage points, from 1.6% to 0.7%.

Overall, however, given the combination of the ECB's unwillingness to address financial market fragmentation and the current austerity drive in most euro zone countries, we continue to expect a continuation of the economic crisis in the remainder of the year.

The IMF has reached an agreement to reduce Greece's public debt to below 110% of GDP by 2022 and to ensure its repayment. The compromise avoids the need for a haircut on Greek debt held by eurozone governments in the short term. However, the deal, if implemented successfully, exhausts most options available to reduce Greek debt other than an outright write-down of Greek government debt.

What would it take to make you abandon your children? Not war? Not even disaster? The answer coming out of parents in Greece right now might shock you. It's economic crisis. And it's tearing families apart.

The eurozone is not a uniformly successful economic model. For one group of member states to succeed another group will fail. This is as a result of the Euro providing a single currency value across the whole of the eurozone, which in turn alters each member states relationship with foreign exchange and trade.

Few Europeans in northern countries understand that to keep Greece economically alive (for now) is in their own interest. A domino effect unleashed by a chaotic Greek default will have devastating consequences.

"What is the difference between Angelos Epithemiou and blacking up to poke fun at 'darkies'?" I asked my friends. Various arguments were advanced in response: "It is racist, but in a comically ironic way"; or "the ethnicity is incidental - he is an idiot and a slob that just happens to be of Greek origin".

It has been an eventful week in the market, which began the week despondent and ends it on a rare positive note after a combination of extra liquidity, surprisingly good US job numbers and a sniff of decisive action in Europe have seen a rally in stocks start, stagger, then keep on running into the weekend.

2011 has been a year of passionate political protests around the world, often provoked by high levels of corruption in public life. Many citizens feel their leaders and public institutions are neither transparent nor accountable, and all too often are systemically corrupt.

Another week of gloomy statistics. Another bad week for the UK's lost generation. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) published the latest figures of unemployment this week, which has reached 2.62 million. Youth unemployment has hit 1.02 million.

These are sad times for Europe. Three countries, Greece, Portugal and Ireland, are now dependent on external financing in order to repay their debt liabilities while Spain and Italy are widely muted to follow suit. Together they constitute more than 25% of the EU's GDP. The stakes are high.